International goods transportation regulations pertaining to lithium and lithium ion cells and batteries have tightened as a result of increasing concern by regulatory officials regarding shipments of high-energy density batteries and the proliferation of lithium ion battery technologies. Current regulations limit the lithium content of lithium batteries, and subject lithium ion batteries to a lithium equivalency calculation where equivalent lithium content is calculated in grams on a per-cell basis to be 0.3 times the rated capacity in ampere hours. Thus, the equivalent lithium content for a battery is the rated capacity in ampere hours for a single cell multiplied by 0.3 and then multiplied by the number of cells in the battery or battery pack.
Current regulations set lithium content or equivalent content limits for cells and batteries. For a lithium metal or lithium alloy cell, the lithium content limit is not more than 1.0 gram per cell and not more than 2.0 grams per battery. Also within the regulations is an exception that allows lithium ion cells containing less than 1.5 grams of equivalent lithium content and lithium ion batteries containing less than 8.0 grams of equivalent lithium content to be shipped without undergoing certain testing and other requirements required of larger lithium and lithium ion cells and batteries.